


Where Magic Waits

by Oparu



Category: Disney Princesses
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-01
Updated: 2012-12-01
Packaged: 2017-11-19 23:12:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oparu/pseuds/Oparu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Princess Merida must travel to France to seal trade relations with Queen Belle's kingdom and she's not very fond of the idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where Magic Waits

**Author's Note:**

  * For [slightlykylie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightlykylie/gifts).



> written for philosapphic during femslash12. I loved the idea of Belle being a mentor of a sorts to Merida, and hope this works.

"She's impossible," Merida said, flopping to the bed. Her hair bounced off the furs and blankets, almost as if it was saying it knew impossible better than anyone. 

"She's the queen of Garance, perhaps she thinks she just deserves a wee bit of respect and courtesy."

"I can be courteous, but respect? She kinnae even string a bow."

"Neither can I, my wee girl." Elinor stopped pacing and flopped down on the bed next to her daughter, setting Merida's hair bouncing again. "Archery is not a required skill to rule a kingdom."

"Perhaps it ought to be," Merida sighed up towards the canopy of the great bed. "I don't know what to talk to her about."I've been respectful, I've been kind. She seems distracted all the time. I took her to the fire falls and she read a book at the top. A book!!"

"So she likes reading, you could stand to like your books a bit more."

Merida pushed herself off the bed before beginning her final plea. She'd lost, that was in her voice already, but she was loath to give up the argument before it was over. "Mother--"

"We need allies Merida. Allies who have already defeated an enchantress who turned their king into a terrible beast are allies we want to have. What if that witch comes back?"

"She won't come back. She moved her whole shop. She's gone."

"Magic is still in the land, Merida. We have to be ready for witches and enchantresses and anyone else who'll try to turn us into beasts."

Merida wiggled her fingers at her mother as if they were claws. "You were a pretty good beast, Mum." 

"Stop that." Elinor shook her head and returned to the map of potential trade routes between them and Garance. They stood to make a fair bit of profit shipping wool south and taking advantage of the warmer climate in Garance. Queen Belle's messengers had arrived with succulent pears, rich wine and light, airy breads that were vastly different from what was available from their fields. Even Merida appreciated that. 

She did not, however, stop and her 'claws' became tickling fingers and Elinor fought with her dignity a moment before she lost and tried to turn on her daughter. Tickling was far from ladylike, but the thrill of victory when Merida laughed until she had tears in her eyes was well worth it. She would miss her, more than she could put into words. Yet it was important Merida see another castle. Living in another court would allow her to see different mannerism and ways of running a kingdom. Belle and her husband were good, caring rulers who were deeply loved by their people. She kissed her daughter's cheek and made peace with letting her go.

* * *

Her mother would have been perfect in Garance, Merida concluded after the second day. She was too clumsy, too coarse, too impatient for the delicate meals (that were beautiful, but oh so fussy) that she was served. Yes, they were delicious, and the castle itself was beautiful, but it was all awkward. She was as useful as Angus at tapestry making. 

On the third day, when she'd finished her duties of helping Belle run the castle and plan yet another wildly complicated dinner that would require more forks than would fit in a quiver, Merida retreated to the garden, with Angus and got to work on the tapestry she'd brought with her. She'd promised her mother. Usually things she'd promised her mother were the last things she'd take the time to do, but it seemed right to use her mother's needle here. 

The sunlight was almost too warm, and even the lightest dress she'd brought with her was nearly too thick for the richness of the air. The garden was full of roses and they filled the air with a perfume that was as bright as their petals. Merida wondered if the tapestry could soak it all in and carry the scent back home to the cool stone of her family's castle. 

Her castle. 

It would be someday. She'd inherit the lands and her mother's title, and one of the sons of the clans would be her husband. Belle and her husband seemed very happy together. They laughed and held hands, even stole kisses from each other when they thought the servants weren't looking. They were younger than her parents, and their love that much younger, but it was strong. Merida didn't often know what to think of love. Her parents had it, and it seemed sensible, even wonderful at times, but she couldn't imagine herself wrapped up in it. Not the way her mother or Belle were. 

Maybe one had to have straight, smooth, lovely dark hair to fall in love. Belle's hair also did what she wanted it to do. Merida's had managed to resist all the pins and ribbons Belle's well-meaning servants had thrown at it. She'd shrugged and admitted she wore it free unless her mother was involved. They'd finally tamed it for dinner by wrapping it thoroughly with ribbons. Belle'd said it was beautiful and Merida had felt blood rush to her face. 

She wasn't the beautiful princess type. She'd managed to make peace with being a princess and responsibility no longer held her hostage like a too-tight dress. She still wasn't beautiful. That was a word for women like her mother and Belle. Women who were stately and calm when they needed to be. Women who didn't prefer it when the duck on the table was one they'd killed themselves. 

Though the chef had appreciated how fresh the duck was. 

Merida lost herself in the tapestry and the slow swish of the needle through the fabric. It was a simple pattern, a rose for Garance and a kindly looking bear (she hadn't given it a crown, though she'd been tempted) for DunBroch. 

"You're quite talented," Belle said, smiling at her shoulder. She'd snuck up on Merida, who'd been much more wrapped up in her work than she'd thought. 

"My mother's much better than I am."

"Than she must be a master," Belle said, reaching towards the finished side of the tapestry. 

The rose was rather nice, even if one of the petals seemed to be too thin, and another too fat-- 

Merida cleared her throat. She'd left the queen waiting for permission. "You can touch it. It's sturdy."

Belle ran her fingers over the rose, smiling. "It's so detailed. We don't have the same traditions. Our walls are so much less colourful. I can't do anything as detailed as this." 

"Perhaps you need to read a book about it first," Merida said, failing to bite her tongue. She chided herself. She knew better than that. 

"Do you have one?" 

Belle's simple question made Merida stop her needle. 

"I'm sorry, m'lady?"

"Do you have a book about tapestries I could read? I'm afraid the castle's library doesn't have one of the tapestry style of your region and I'd love to know more about it."

Merida stopped, her needle poised in mid-air. A book about tapestries that she would have dragged with her on the ship all the way from her home? Who would do that? Who would possibly think that was worth the space in her trunk of clothes? Who would even want to read a book about tapestries?

Belle, who was waiting patiently for an answer Merida did not seem able to form, obviously did. 

"I didnae have a book. My mother taught me," she explained, tucking the needle safely into the tapestry so she didn't accidentally prick the queen. Knowing her luck, she'd throw the needle right at her and put her into an enchanted sleep. 

"That must have been wonderful."

Merida chortled, almost snorting with laughter. "It was pretty horrible actually. I didnae want to learn and I made sure my mother knew exactly how much I didnae want to be there with her."

"Why wouldn't you want to be with your mother?" Belle settled down on the bench next to Merida, bringing the scent of the roses even closer. 

"I'm nothing like my mother. She likes being sensible and keeping the dogs away from the table. I put my bow on the table at dinner, go days without combing my hair and treat a needle like a carving knife."

Belle giggled, and even that was ladylike. She didn't chortle. She must have fallen so neatly into being queen. Everything about her was perfect for the job. She even liked to study the same charts and maps that Elinor did. She was so beautiful too, as if roses had settled in her cheeks and lips, turning her into the kind of queen Merida would never be. 

"You're carving this into something exquisite." 

Blushing again, Merida shook her head. "It's not quite right."

"Oh?"

"The bear's eyes are too big and her nose is too pointed." 

"She looks like a very kind bear."

"Bears can be kind."

"Like beasts," Belle agreed, smiling. She had a smile like the sun, bright and almost too warm to sit in. 

Merida squirmed, trying to find something to do with her hands. "You saved him, didn't you?"

"My prince? Yes, I suppose I did, in a way."

"And you love him?"

"I couldn't have saved him if I didn't." 

"I think that's what beats magic, really," Merida said, picking up the needle again because she just didn't know what else to do. "You think it's this thing you have to do, but really, all you have to do is love someone enough and it works."

"Everything I've read suggests love is part of it."

"Oh?" 

"Magic can't conquer love, or create it where it doesn't exist. It's the one thing that seems to have its own magic." Belle's brown eyes were so very close. 

"Magic isn't trustworthy."

"Do you think love is?"

Merida pondered that as she reworked the bear's nose. "My parents have a very trusting love. My father would do anything for my mother, and even though he's a great noisy lout sometimes, my mother would do anything for him."

"But not every couple is like them." 

Staring at her fingertips, Merida concentrated on the thread, not the woman next to her. "No, not everyone is." 

"And you might not be that lucky?"

The sharp prick of the needle in her finger made her curse and Merida looked up, ready to apologise, but Belle's eyes were wide and amused. 

"Ouch."

"It's only a wee prick." Merida stuffed her finger into her mouth. "Getting married is getting lucky. Maybe you get a prince, maybe you get a wee Dingwald."

"Do you have any other options?"

"Turn him into a bear?"

Belle giggled again. "You'd probably have to marry the bear."

Merida groaned. She probably would have to marry the bear. "Turn wee Dingwald into a bear, marry the bear, then kiss him and hope he turns into a prince." 

"That's a lot of hoping."

"That's what I have to work with. A whole mess of hoping."

Belle leaned across and kissed Merida's cheek. "Hang on to that."

Merida ended up teaching her everything she knew about tapestries. Belle sketched and took notes, writing her own book. Merida had never been so distracted while she tried to work and her exclamations pepper Belle's writing, some of them far too colourful for polite company, but Belle seemed to glow with amusement. She seemed to like being in impolite company. Maybe she never got to be rude. 

When the light was fading, Merida tied off her work, tucked the needle away and whistled, calling Angus over. She clambered up, reaching down to pull Belle up onto the huge horse. 

"Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"To look for magic without a book."

Belle scrambled up behind her, wrapping her arms tightly around Merida's waist. "Can you do that?"

"Hang on and we'll find out."


End file.
